This invention relates to lower-fat and fat-free pizza cheese and a method of making thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to lower-fat and fat-free pizza cheese, such as mozzarella cheese, and a method of making thereof, wherein the problem of excessive browning and charring of the cheese during baking on a pizza is greatly reduced or eliminated. This method of cheese-making further eliminates the need for aging of the cheese.
With the widespread interest in controlling the amount of fat in the diet, the cheese industry has for many years attempted to develop a method of making fat-free and lower-fat cheeses that are acceptable for their organoleptic, cooking, and other performance properties. For example, it would be desirable to have a no-fat or lower-fat mozzarella cheese that would be acceptable for its melt properties, such as blistering, meltdown, stretch, and tenderness, upon being baked on a pizza. It would also be desirable to develop a method of making pizza cheese such that the aging process standardly used in making such cheese could be reduced or eliminated.
The conventional method of making mozzarella cheese is described in Barz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,216 as follows:
(a) pasteurizing cow's milk having a fat content in the range of about 1.5 to 3.5 weight percent; PA1 (b) fermenting the milk with one or more lactic acid-producing bacteria to produce a cheese milk; PA1 (c) coagulating the cheese milk to obtain a coagulum comprised of curd and whey; PA1 (d) cutting the curd and draining the whey therefrom, thereby leaving a cheese curd; PA1 (e) heating, kneading, and stretching the cheese curd until it is a homogeneous, fibrous mass having a moisture content in the range of about 45 to 60 weight percent and a milkfat content of at least about 30 percent on a dried solids basis; PA1 (f) placing the mass in a bath of cold brine to achieve cooling and salt penetration; and PA1 (g) removing the cooled cheese from the brine. PA1 (a) providing a liquid milk having a fat content less than 1.5% or a casein to fat weight ratio greater than 1.5; PA1 (b) mixing the liquid milk with an effective amount of a food grade acid to obtain a mixture such that the pH thereof is in the range of about 4.8 to 5.8; PA1 (c) adding an effective amount of a coagulation agent to the mixture such that the mixture is coagulated to result in formation of curds and whey; PA1 (d) cutting the curds into pieces and stirring the pieces in the whey to promote syneresis; PA1 (e) draining the whey from the pieces; PA1 (f) mixing salt with the pieces from which the whey has been drained to obtain a curd and salt mixture with a salt concentration of about 0.5% to 3.0% by weight; and PA1 (g) pressing the curd and salt mixture into blocks to obtain a lower-fat pressed pizza cheese. PA1 (a) providing a liquid milk having a fat content less than 1.5% or a casein to fat weight ratio greater than 1.5; PA1 (b) mixing the liquid milk with an effective amount of a food grade acid to obtain a mixture such that the pH thereof is in the range of about 4.8 to 5.8; PA1 (c) adding an effective amount of a coagulation agent to the mixture such that the mixture is coagulated to result in formation of curds and whey; PA1 (d) cutting the curds into pieces and stirring the pieces in the whey to promote syneresis; PA1 (e) draining the whey from the pieces; PA1 (f) stretching the pieces from which the whey has been drained in hot water or hot salt brine; and PA1 (g) cooling the pieces that have been stretched in water brine, or air such that a lower-fat mozzarella cheese having a salt concentration of about 0.5% to 3.0% by weight is obtained. PA1 (a) providing a liquid milk having a fat content less than 1.5% or a casein to fat weight ratio greater than 1.5; PA1 (b) mixing the liquid milk with an effective amount of a food grade acid to obtain a mixture such that the pH thereof is in the range of about 5.6 to 6.0; PA1 (c) adding an effective amount of a coagulation agent to the mixture such that the mixture is coagulated to result in formation of curds and whey; PA1 (d) cutting the curds into pieces and stirring the pieces in the whey to promote syneresis; PA1 (e) draining a portion of the whey from the pieces; PA1 (f) adding an additional amount of food grade acid to the pieces from which a portion of the whey has been removed to further lower the pH, stirring until the pH is about pH 5.1 to 5.6, and then draining the remaining whey; PA1 (g) stretching the pieces from which all of the whey has been drained in hot water or hot salt brine; and PA1 (g) cooling the pieces that have been stretched to obtain a lower-fat mozzarella cheese having a salt concentration of about 0.5% to 3.0% by weight. PA1 (a) providing a lower-fat pizza cheese starting material comprising the steps of: PA1 (b) adding an effective amount of an emulsifying salt to the lower-fat pizza cheese starting material to obtain a process cheese mixture; and then PA1 (c) cooking the process cheese mixture at a temperature sufficient to melt the lower-fat pizza cheese starting material, thereby forming said lower-fat process pizza cheese.
After the brining step, the resultant unripened mozzarella cheese traditionally has been aged at about 35-45.degree. C. for about 7-21 days for developing characteristic taste and texture, as well as acceptable baking characteristics. The aging process is also known as ripening, curing, or maturation. All of the major components of cheese, carbohydrates, protein, and fat, are subject to modification during aging. Through a complex harmony of metabolic processes, these components are catabolized to lactic acid, peptides, amino acids, and fatty acids. After aging, the mozzarella cheese is usually comminuted (or shredded) and frozen such that the ripening process is halted.
Bily, U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,503, discloses a method of increasing the yield of cheese from milk by adding lecithin to the milk prior to coagulation or precipitation of curd in the milk. It is further disclosed that acid, such as lactic acid, can be used to precipitate cheese curd.
Swanson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,817, teach a method of making a natural cheese analog by adding dry casein to liquid whey, adjusting the pH to about pH 6.9 with an alkali metal hydroxide or alkaline earth metal hydroxide (such as calcium hydroxide), optionally adding an emulsifier, acidifying the mixture with a mineral or organic acid (preferably with lactic acid from a natural cheese starter culture), coagulating the liquid mixture with rennet or another coagulating agent, and then processing the cheese curd by conventional methods. Casein is disclosed as being obtained by acidification of skim milk with a bacterial starter culture or mineral acid.
Czulak et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,143, describe a method of making cheese with a reduced fat content by inoculating milk having a fat content of 0.3-1.5% with a culture of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus and with a culture of L. casei in addition to a normal cheese starter culture. Rennet is added to coagulate the curd, then half the whey is removed, sodium chloride is added so that the sodium ions exchange with calcium ions to disrupt calcium bridges between casein molecules thereby limiting contraction of the curd, and thereafter continuing the cheese-making process according to conventional methods.
Kratochvil, U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,533, discloses an imitation cheese product containing kappa carrageenan, gelatin, edible fat, and water, the product having a pH of 4.7 to 6.0 by addition of a food grade acid, such as adipic, citric, lactic, acetic, or phosphoric acid.
Trecker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,659, describe a method of making cheese from skim milk comprising the steps of subjecting the skim milk to ultrafiltration, adding a starter culture and a coagulating enzyme to the milk, fermenting the mixture, and evaporating under turbulent conditions to produce a skim milk cheese.
Silver, U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,660, teaches a method of producing low fat cheese products comprising the steps of forming a mixture of an edible protein and a fat, and plasticizing this mixture to cause rupture of fat globules and reduction in size of the protein matrix to form a self-emulsifying plastic cheese food product. It is further disclosed that cheese curd formation by direct acidification with food grade acids is a known process.
Gamay, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,913, and Gamay, U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,220, disclose a method of making low fat cheese from milk having a fat content in the range of about 0-0.3%. Carrageenan is dissolved in the milk, then bacterial cheese cultures are added and the mixture is incubated at 85.degree.-95.degree. F. Next, calcium chloride and rennet (or other conventional clotting enzyme) is added to coagulate the milk. The curd is cut, heated, and allowed to settle, and then the whey is drained and the curd is washed with cold water. Finally, the cheese curd is salted and then hooped and pressed, or hooped and salted by immersion in brine, and then the resulting cheese is packaged. Gamay, U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,630, describes a similar process for making low-fat cheese suitable for preparing process cheeses involving use of lactic acid bacteria for adjusting the pH of the curd to pH 4.7-5.5 prior to separating the whey.
Singer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,728, discloses a method of making a reduced fat processed cheese by replacing all or part of the normal fat or oil content with a microparticulated protein. This protein is produced by treating whey protein concentrate by ultrafiltration and evaporation until the protein content is about 50-55% by weight. This whey protein concentrate is added to water with agitation. Food acid (such as lactic, acetic, citric, or hydrochloric acid) is added until a pH of about 4.4 is reached. The mixture is deaerated, heated to 165-180.degree. F., passed through a microcooker, and cooled.
Barz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,216, and Barz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,700, disclose a method of eliminating the need for aging of mozzarella cheese by controlling the process such that a combined moisture and wet milkfat content of at least about 70% is attained.
Rybinski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,687, disclose a process of making a no-fat (less than 0.5%) cheese analog using a combination of a coagulated skin milk product (such as baker's cheese) and rennet casein together with water, emulsifying salts, and other conventional ingredients used in cheese analog production. It is taught that baker's cheese is made from skim milk using lactic acid culture or direct acid addition. It is further disclosed that acidulants, such as lactic acid, acetic acid, citric acid, adipic acid, phosphoric acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, and C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 carboxylic acids, can be added for flavoring purposes. Example 1 describes a method of making no-fat mozzarella cheese analog, and Example 2 describes a failed attempt at making no-fat mozzarella cheese analog wherein the baker's cheese was omitted.
Batz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,926, discloses a method of making a low fat cheese product by first providing a mixture of low fat skim milk curd, salt, and an emulsifying salt. The mixture is heated and agitated to yield a cheese blend. An edible acid, such as sorbic acid, is added to control the growth of microorganisms. A wet mix of water and a texture modifying agent is added, then the cheese mixture is heated and agitated again to yield the final product.
W. M. Breene et al., Manufacture of pizza cheese without starter, 47 J. Dairy Sci. 1173-80 (1964), discloses making of mozzarella cheese from whole or part-skim milk by direct acidification.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the prior art fails to disclose or suggest a method of making lower-fat and fat-free pizza, e.g. mozzarella, cheese without the use of bacterial starter cultures wherein the milk used as a starting material has less than 1.5% fat or wherein the milk has a casein to fat weight ratio greater than 1.5. Such a method and the cheese produced thereby would be significant advancements in the art.